steven moffat

THE FIRST FOUR EPISODES OF THE NEW SERIES OF DOCTOR WHO, PREVIEWED IN DWM 491!

Doctor Who Magazine exclusively previews the first four episodes of the new series: The Magician’s Apprentice & The Witch’s Familiar and Under the Lake & Before the Flood…

Under the Lake and Before the Flood form Toby Whithouse’s first two-part Doctor Who story – and it hinges on time travel – and fairly mind-bending time travel at that. While plotting and writing, did Toby ever come to regret taking the wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey route?

“Oh never, I loved it! I’ve always wanted to do a timey-wimey episode,” he says. “In fact, it was going to be a lot more timey-wimey, but we lost some of that before we started filming. It’s enormous fun to deposit something in a script, then have the reason for it happen later.”

This is also the first story that Toby’s written to star Peter Capaldi as the Doctor.

“I think he’s the most ‘alien’ Doctor we’ve had since the show came back,” says Toby. “Even though the essentials of the character remain the same – his heroism, his brilliance, his enthusiasm – he feels to me like much more of an outsider than Chris Eccleston or David Tennant or Matt Smith were. He’s more strange and otherwordly. That’s really interesting to play with.”

THE NEW DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE SPECIAL IS MUSIC TO OUR EARS!

For the first time in the 36-year history of Doctor Who Magazine – an entire issue devoted to the music and sound design of Doctor Who!

From Delia Derbyshire’s groundbreaking experiments in the Radiophonic Workshop, to the acclaimed performances of Murray Gold’s orchestral scores at the Royal Albert Hall, The Music of Doctor Who explores one of the most celebrated and mysterious sonic landscapes in television history.

“We think this Special Edition is unprecedented in its scope and detail,” says editor Marcus Hearn. “Writers such as Mark Ayres and Andrew Pixley have contributed a fresh insight to an aspect of the show’s production that’s been overlooked for too long. (more…)

JENNA COLEMAN TALKS ABOUT THE LOVES AND LIVES OF CLARA OSWALD, EXCLUSIVELY IN DWM 482!

Jenna Coleman, who plays the Doctor’s companion Clara Oswald, gives a revealing interview about her time so far on Doctor Who…

DWM asks Jenna if the Doctor and Clara can finally move on in their relationship – and after the sacrifice of Danny Pink, can things ever be the same again? “I think so,” Jenna says. “But they are a bit addicted to each other, and to the dynamic that they share. It’s getting so that one can’t go without the other, and I think that’s definitely what Clara’s realised. In a way that’s quite dangerous now, because she realises that there is no going back for her…”

ALSO INSIDE ISSUE 482 OF DWM…

Rachel Talalay, director of the 2014 series finale two-part finale, reveals the secrets of how Death in Heaven was brought to the screen.

Peter Purves, who starred as companion Steven Taylor in the 1960s, talks in-depth about his time on Doctor Who.

Discover fascinating new facts about the acclaimed Seventh Doctor story The Greatest Show in Galaxy in The Fact of Fiction.

Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat answer readers’ questions – including the knotty problem of the Doctor’s many wives! – in his exclusive column.

Writer David Fisher, who wrote three memorable stories for the Fourth Doctor in the 1970s, revisits his work.

The Doctor and Clara face Sontarans and Nazis as The Instruments of War continues, a brand-new comic strip written and illustrated by Mike Collins.

Sarah Jane and the Brigadier are reunited, as the Time Team watch The Sarah Jane Adventures: Enemy of the Bane.

Jaqueline Rayner wonders how the Doctor’s companions would get on in the Cubs in Relative Dimensions.

Last Christmas is put under the spotlight in The DWM Review.

The Watcher considers the many surprising ways that Doctor Who stories can change from script to screen in Wotcha!.

The Watcher gives the answers to his Fiendishly Festive Christmas Quiz! How well did you do?

Have your say on Peter Capaldi’s first series as the Doctor in the DWMSeason Survey.

I’ll cut to the chase. Mummy on the Orient Express is superb. It is, easily, without a doubt, head and shoulders above anything this season has offered so far.

Now, caveats… I’ve got a big spoiler Ninja watching me from the shadows, so I have to be careful what I say here.

The story… the Doctor visits the Orient Express in space in the aftermath of his and Clara’s falling out, but, as usual, it’s not just a casual visit, and he’s soon up to his eyes in death. People are dying. The lights flicker, they, and only they, see a scary Hollywood Mummy lurch towards them and, 66 seconds later, they’re dead. (more…)

One thing you know you get with Gareth Roberts is a right good romp. His previous Doctor Who outings, from the very holiday orientated Planet of the Dead, to his more romantic comedy capers in The Lodger and Closing Time, you get humourous, personable and gentle Doctor Who. Not for Gareth the machinations of the Great And Ancient Time Lord.

As a novelist, it’s my honest opinion that Gareth is the natural successor to Douglas Adams. His adaptation of Shada is a wondrous thing, and kept me company on a fabulous Egyptian holiday. I’m looking forward to the rumoured City of Death novelisation too, and his own stuff, particularly his pairing of Tom Baker and Lalla Ward is just perfection.

So you won’t be surprised to find out that The Caretaker takes these tropes and runs with them. It’s a camp, surreal, Did I Just See That romantic comedy, very Rock Hudson and Doris Dayesque in its quaintness in which the Doctor joins Coal Hill school as the, em, Caretaker, mostly to save the day from a deux ex machina bad guy, the Skovox Blitzer but also to get a right good nosey at what Clara gets up with in her “real” life. And what Clara gets up to is, of course, Danny Pink. (more…)

Time Heist isn’t going to be the season game changer. It’s not going to make people sit up and take notice. It’s not going to rock the nation. It’s the episode that will remind you that, after all the hype, we’re into the second act of series 8, and well into Capaldi’s tenure as the Doctor.

To put it in perspective. It’s Capaldi’s World War Three, perhaps more concerningly it’s his Rise of the Cybermen, or maybe worse, it’s his Flesh and Stone.

To be fair, it’s also his Revenge of the Cybermen, so, well… em. Nothing to be gained by comparisons. (more…)

Sometimes, Doctor Who is like wine. Occasionally it’s a fizzy little Lambrusco, just there to set you up for a Saturday night. Sometimes, it’s a medium priced red, full bodied, hard hitting, and perhaps not to everyone’s taste.

Sometimes though, just sometimes, Doctor Who is a 1907 Malvazia Madeira Pereira d’Oliveira, the finest of wines, an exquisite, crafted and extraordinary thing.

Listen is an episode like that.

In many ways, Listen will be the epitome of the ethos behind the Capaldi era – slow, wordy, leisurely, and perhaps even languid. It delivers the promises we were told of and shown in Deep Breath – longer scenes, thoughtful prose, considered performances. It really is a thing to behold. (more…)

Here is a statement from the BBC regarding the recent leak of scripts for S8.
“BBC Worldwide is currently investigating a security issue around Doctor Who Series 8 where unfinished material has inadvertently been made public. We deeply regret this and apologise to all the show’s fans, the BBC and the cast and crew who have worked tirelessly making the series. We would like to make a plea to anyone who might have any of this material and spoilers associated with it not to share it with a wider audience so that everyone can enjoy the show as it should be seen when it launches. We know only too well that Doctor Who fans are the best in the world and we thank them for their help with this and their continued loyalty.”